Bacopa caroliniana coloring red, how did I do it?

[docrak]

I started a new regiment of EI dosing using some if my new ferts this weekend. Not really EI, my version of it based on a what I believe to be a high iron requirement of my plant selection. One of the by products of resetting the tank was that my Bacopa turned red. I don't know how I did it. I did dose my iron high the first day to .5 ppm and reduced the dosage to .25 ppm per day. After a few day it went back to being green. I also dosed phosphates the first day and ran out of my old stuff, I'm still waiting for some of my new ferts to come in. All my plants are turning red including my Hygrophila polysperma. My question is how did I get my Bacopa to go red, because I liked it and I want to do it again.

 

[newfound77951]

So did it turn red when you added the iron or when the iron ran out? Mine used to do the same thing, I think it's when the iron is high. The Hygro will turn more red when the nitrate level gets lower; I now use my hygro as a "nitrate indicator"....when it gets really pink, I add a little, when it fades, I stop.

 

[docrak]

I think I figured it out. It wasn't the ferts at all. For a couple of days this week I've been going to work early and I turned the tank lights on manually and forgot to turn them off before leaving for work. The plants were getting 14 hours of light for two days. Once the lights went back to normal the red went away. I think this was the cause. I've upped my tank lighting to 14 hours to test this theory and see what happens. After that I might try upping the iron dosage to .4ppm daily to see if that has an effect.

 

[An t-iasg]

In all the pictures I've seen with red Bacopa caroliniana, the tanks had high lighting. I have medium lighting - the plants bend toward the light a bit but don't turn red.

 

[docrak]

I've noticed that my tank becomes very red in the morning and looses the reds thought the day and becomes green in the evening.

This photo was taken this morning:

This photo was taken last night:

Regardless of any change in fert dosage or lighting I've been noticing this pattern for the past week. The weird part is that it's not just the bacopa thats effected. All of the plants look better in the morning after a black out. I'd like to know what causes this and is there any way to keep the red coloration going all day. That would be cool.

Thanks

 

[Musiche]

Hello. Just thought I'd share some information on this.

Plants all have the ability to exhibit red and green colouring. In most plants, the green is dominant as this is a reflection of the chloroplasts which are abundant in all plants (chloroplasts being the place chlorophyll is stored and the place where food is manufactured - present in ALL plants).

When red exhibits itself, it can occur for different reasons.

For one, a high-nitrogen environment will promote the production of chlorophyll and make plants darker green (and healthier overall). Nitrogen is one of three macronutrients and used the most by plants. With decreased nitrogen, the green becomes subdued and gives other colours a chance to show through.

Red colouring can also show in cooler temperatures or when water becomes less available - this is more notable in land plants. Less water means fewer nutrients are available to the plant because all nutrients are dissolved in water for the plant to take up.

The other reason plants exhibit more red colouring, and probably the most prevalent reason, is because of intense lighting. This usually shows itself in the upper parts of plants where the new tissue is developing and closest to the light source. Plants do this as a way to protect themselves from getting sunburned. New tissue is much more tender than older tissue and it is also not shaded by leaves and stems above.

Plants use the full spectrum of light: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet wavelengths (all of these meld together to appear as 'white light'). They use red mostly and when you purchase plant lights, they are usually tinted red or pink to provide more of these wavelengths to the plants. Violet is the next in demand and the rest are used in far smaller quantities.

In a high light environment, plants try to bounce back the excessive and potentially harmful light (that would literally sunburn the more sensitive green tissue and destroy chloroplasts), which is mostly red. When a certain wavelength is not used by the plant, it is bounced back into the environment and our eyes and we see it as colour. The wavelength that is used LEAST by all plants is GREEN, hence why most plants appear green to us.

I hope this helps answer your question!



Krystal.

 

[Autumnsky]

Nice explanation.

 

[Rivercats]

I have a ton of non-green plants, my tank has high light (T5HO's & Metal Halides), but I also run it as a low nitrate, high phosphate tank, with a slightly higher amount of iron than what is the the CSM+B micro mix. I get very good coloring in red/pink/orange/yellow tones. I also dose liquid carbon daily and I believe both liquid carbon and CO2 helps increase non-green color.

 

[Musiche]

I have a ton of non-green plants, my tank has high light (T5HO's & Metal Halides), but I also run it as a low nitrate, high phosphate tank, with a slightly higher amount of iron than what is the the CSM+B micro mix. I get very good coloring in red/pink/orange/yellow tones. I also dose liquid carbon daily and I believe both liquid carbon and CO2 helps increase non-green color.

Your pictures are great! You DO have a lot of nice colour in your tank. I love your lotus, I want one so bad but my tanks are FULL and I just can't bear to fit another thing in them!

High light and limited nitrates supports what I was saying about bringing out reds and colours other than green. Thanks for backing that up with some beautiful photographs!

You also touched on something I think I forgot to mention, that being that phosphorous (another macronutrient plants need) is responsible for the red colouring in plants, so it's interesting that you have a high-phosphate tank.

 

[Rivercats]

I try to keep nitrates at 10ppm and phosphates from 1-2ppm. I'm still trying to find the right amount of phosphate for best color intensity. Plus I have plants such as Rotala Macrandra and Nesaea pedicellata 'Golden' that also have leaf stunting issues with too much nitrates and not enough phosphates in the water.

Thanks for the tank compliment but it is grown in alot since those pic's. Plus I've recently added some Proserpinaca palustris green in it's emmersed form and after only a couple of weeks not only are the leaves changing to their immersed form but are also changing to their yellow orange color. I truely believe you have to have lower nitrates and higher phosphates to get good non green color on plants.

 

[Musiche]

I absolutely agree with you about higher phosphates, but:

Phosphates are necessary to provide the raw elements to create the red colouring. Nitrogen is required to provide healthy and robust foliage. In the presence of intense light, an abundance of nitrogen, and an abundance of phosphorous, you 'should' see the red colour vibrantly in the lush, healthy, large leaves produced by the nitrogen.

All I'm saying, is "limiting" nitrogen too low will stunt plant growth and produce inferior plants. What I would suggest is providing "optimal" levels of both nutrients in an "almost" abundance (so as not to produce a toxic environment) in the presence of intense light and you may find you have the lushest, largest-leaved, most intensely coloured plants you could hope for!

This is all really a gamble though, as in such a small, "captive" environment, levels of nutrients can fluctuate so easily. I would say you've got things under control and you're doing very well!

PS - I tend to look for 'natural' cues in my aquariums. Things like algae 'blooms' can suggest a surge in nitrates. Another big favourite of mine that few people know about is iron bacteria. They show up in the filter mainly, and substrate, and appear as small brown "worms". They are a GREAT indicator of over-fertilization as many aquatic plant fertilizers focus on iron and make it exceptionally easy to overdose this nutrient. Aquatic fertilizers treat iron as a macronutrient and it's totally unnecessary (an annoying!).

 

[Rivercats]

I totally agree with what your saying but in my tank I found If my nitrates go much over 10ppm, 15ppm tops, I begin to see a difference in my non-green plants. It took awhile to find the optimal level to keep them at. Same with Phosphates, I've done alot of trial and error in finding those perfect levels that will work in my tank. I feel like I'm walking a thin line sometimes.

 

[Musiche]

I agree with what you're saying totally. You found that fine line, the balance, and you have it down to a number. That's pretty precise!

You mean over 15ppm they get greener?

 

[Rivercats]

I found with Rotala macrandra I got a low level drab pink and even some green and pink stripes leaves. The Neasea Golden not only started having clubbed stunted leaves which it hadn't done/had before and it seemed to stall in it growth. Yet my Rotala Wallichii seemed unphased by any nitrate level. Limnophila aromatica 'hippuroides' had nice pink tops and nice green lower leaves but now in lower nitrates the lower green leaves have changed into a more yellowish green. But just dropping the nitrates didn't change alot, but then when I slowly started upping the phosphates that is when I really noticed the biggest color change going on. I also test for iron and try to keep it around .03 but I'm honestly not sure how much iron is really playing in better color.

 

[Musiche]

Iron is by all means necessary for plant growth, but problems associated with iron are far less prevalent than with nitrogen, phosphorous or potassium, the macronutrients. Iron won't affect the colouring of your plants really, except if there was a severe deficiency in which your plants may have a harder time taking up nitrogen and metabolizing at a cellular level. Growth may slow. But iron is required in such small amounts that it's highly unlikely they would ever be deficient and it is FAR more likely that the average aquatic gardener would have an excess of iron in their tank (with the way fertilizers are made these days).

Iron is used for chlorophyll development and function, transferring energy within a plant, it helps transfer enzymes and protein and helps with respiration. More notably for the purposes of aquatic gardening, iron is used by plants for nitrogen fixation, so in short, it helps plants take up nitrogen. All of this is done on such a small scale compared to what the macronutrients do, that iron deficiencies and overdoses won't appear as major problems.

Iron deficiency will show itself more than an overdose, yet you may not even recognize the symptoms as a problem. Plants without enough iron (which as a 'micronutrient' is required in very small doses) will slow their growth, they may appear more chlorotic (chlorosis is what happens when there's a reduction in nitrogen, and produces a less-green or yellow plant) and that's really about it. Iron will ensure your plants grow optimally, but won't produce mass problems if levels are off the way, say, nitrogen does.

I still have yet to understand why there is such a focus on iron in so many aquatic gardening books, and in the hobby itself.

Almost every comprehensive aquatic fertilizer I've seen has way too much iron in it. The plants don't mind, but I always have iron bacteria when I fertilize with the micronutrient supplement, even at minimal dosing. This isn't detrimental to the tank, plants or fish, but ends up clogging my filter where they like to live, which is annoying. I get great results even with the constant iron overdose in both my tanks (thanks to the bacteria keeping levels in check). I don't have the time to dose each nutrient individually, that's just too much work!

You totally have the right idea focusing on nitrogen and phosphorous - those two elements alone control the colour of your plants more than anything else, along with light. Everything else will have a very minimal impact comparatively.